Black Hat vs White Hat vs gray hat Hacker

Movies are probably to blame for the majority of the public not understanding what a hacker actually does. We all conjure a very specific set of tropes in our brains whenever we hear about hacking. A man in a hoodie, typing late into the night as the green glow of binary code illuminates his Doritos-dust covered fingers. A lone genius who can acquire God-like powers just by “rerouting the encryption” or “assessing the nodes”. A mischievous and powerful being that can hack into a mainframe in one night. However, perhaps the largest thing people do not understand about hacking is that there are several types of hackers. When working in the cybersecurity field, or outside of it, we commonly separate hackers into three main categories. These categories are White Hat Hacker, Black Hat Hacker, and Grey Hat Hackers.

Black Hat hacker definition

Black Hat hackers are criminals who break into computer networks with malicious intent. They may also release malware that destroys files, holds computers hostage, or steals passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal information.

Black hat hackers are criminals who bypass security protocols and break into computer networks. Their primary goal is to make money, but sometimes, they’re involved in corporate espionage or activism. Not only do they look to steal data, but they often seek to modify or destroy it, depending on their motivations. People belonging to this category can be any age, gender, or ethnicity.

They can be computer geniuses but many cybercriminals are beginners. Of course, not everyone can write complex exploit chains, but some attacks don’t require an extremely high level of coding.

Those people are also good at social engineering. While they may seem like hoodie-clad loners who spend their entire days in front of the screen, they can be quite good at persuading victims to click on their links or download their files.

Popular Methods Used by Black Hat Hackers

The methods cybercriminals use are ever-evolving. Most of the time, they set their targets at personal information such as email accounts, credit card details, and user credentials.

When going after bigger fish, such as companies and organizations, black hat hacking is aimed at stealing business data or taking down websites.

Most popular methods include:

• Keylogging,
• Phishing,
• Brute force,
• Ransomware ,
• DoS/DDoS Attacks,
• Viruses and Trojans,
• Fake W.A.P.
• Cookie Theft,
• Bait and Switch Attacks,
• and more

White hat hacker definition

What is White Hat hacker?

These are the good hackers that use their technical skills to protect the world from the black hat hackers. White hat hackers are also known as “ethical hackers.” They’re equally talented IT professionals who possess degrees and certifications in cybersecurity and ethical hacking. White hat hackers employ the same hacking techniques as black hat hackers, but they do so legally and with the authorization or permission of the system owners.

You may be surprised to know just how common white hat hackers are. White hat hackers often can be found in the roles of security specialists, information security analysts, pen testers, and cybersecurity researchers. They work as independent consultants or freelancers as well. You might even have one or two as colleagues at your company.

White hat hackers’ intentions are to:

• Educate users about various cyber threats and ways to prevent them.
• Identify vulnerabilities and exploits in applications and infrastructure so organizations can fix them.
• Help organizations strengthen their overall security posture.
• Develop software that detects and removes malware.
• Make contingency plans in the event of a cyber-attack.

What White Hat Hackers Do?

Now that we know what white hat hackers are, let’s explore some of the activities white hat hackers are typically involved with:

1. Develop Security Products

Some white hat hackers are programmers who develop security products such as antivirus, antimalware, antispyware, firewalls, browser security extensions, honeypots, and data filters. White hat hackers also develop tools and techniques for websites to identify and mitigate cyber attacks, such as,

• DDoS attacks,
• Brute force attacks,
• Cross-site scripting, and
• SQL injections.

2. Penetration Testing

In penetration testing, the white hat hackers test a computer system, software, network, or web application to find bugs or security vulnerabilities. But unlike black hat hackers, white hats do this with the owner’s permission.

To discover weak security spots, ethical hackers try to break into all the entry points or deploy different types of cyber-attacks on the system without harming it. Basically, they try to identify security vulnerabilities so they can be fixed before black hat hackers can exploit them. White hat hackers do penetration testing (pen testing) manually or by using various tools and software.

3. Help Companies Be Compliant

Companies handling sensitive user data must adhere to security policies set forth in laws such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and more. White hat hackers ensure that companies comply with the latest legal and security standards required by the industry. This helps these companies maintain and increase customer trust and avoid fines for non-compliance.

4. Educate Users about Cybersecurity

White hat hackers are often academics or researchers who educate users about how to identify and prevent cyber-attacks. They also may develop contingency plans that companies and organizations can use in the event of a crisis.

Gray Hat Hackers,

What is Gray Hat hacker? Who they are?

A gray hat hacker (also spelled grey hat hacker) is someone who may violate ethical standards or principles, but without the malicious intent ascribed to black hat hackers. Gray hat hackers may engage in practices that seem less than completely above board, but are often operating for the common good. Gray hat hackers represent the middle ground between white hat hackers, who operate on behalf of those maintaining secure systems, and black hat hackers who act maliciously to exploit vulnerabilities in systems.

How gray hat hackers work?

If a gray hat hacker succeeds in gaining illegitimate access to a system or network, they may suggest that a system administrator hire them or a friend to pay to fix the problem. However, this practice has decreased due to the increased willingness of companies to sue.

Some companies use bug bounty programs to encourage gray hat hackers to report their findings. In these cases, organizations offer a premium to avoid the wider risk of hackers exploiting vulnerabilities for their own benefit. However, this isn’t always the case, so getting the company’s approval is the only way to ensure hackers are acting within the law.

Grey hat hackers sometimes become black hat hackers by posting attack vectors on the internet or even exploiting vulnerabilities themselves if the organization does not respond in a timely manner or does not comply with regulations.

gray hat hacker vs white hat hacker

The critical difference between gray hat hackers and white hat hackers is that if an organization decides to ignore a gray hat hacker, the hacker is not bound by ethical hacking rules or an employment contract. Instead, they could choose to exploit the flaw themselves or share the knowledge online for other hackers to use.

Black hat hacker vs white hat hacker

The main difference between the two is motivation. Unlike black hat hackers, who access systems illegally, with malicious intent, and often for personal gain, white hat hackers work with companies to help identify weaknesses in their systems and make corresponding updates. They do this to ensure that black hat hackers cannot access the system’s data illegally.